Nuggets score 15th straight win

Home victory over Sacramento ties franchise record

DENVER -- The last time the Nuggets did this, they weren't even the Nuggets.

On Jan. 25, 1970, the Denver Rockets won their 15th consecutive game, a franchise record that lasted through a name change and a league change, through Moe and Mutombo and Melo.

But on Saturday night at the Pepsi Center, the current Nuggets matched the streak, tying a franchise record that's stood six years longer than Andre Miller's life.

It wasn't easy. And it took a clutch three-point play by Miller to secure the 101-95 win against Sacramento. Denver led by just three points with less than a minute, when the 37-year-old point guard suddenly streaked to the basket for a quick layup and was fouled. The free throw gave Denver a 97-92 lead, and the Kings couldn't recover.

"We definitely can win better," Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari said. "We all think we can do something special this year, so we cannot allow ourselves to have bad stretches in these types of games, especially at home. (Coach George Karl) was pretty mad, he was not happy with us. He was saying we can't allow ourselves to do this, because this is the last stretch before the playoffs. We have to take steps forward, not taking steps back."

Yes, perhaps the Nuggets should have smacked around the Kings with ease. Just like the previous game against the 76ers. But the Nuggets found a way to win, with timely contributions of Kosta Koufos, Anthony Randolph and other surprise fourth-quarter contributors. Denver now has 49 wins, third-most in the Western Conference.

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All five starters scored in double figures, with Danilo Gallinari leading the way with 19 points, eight boards, four assists and three steals.

The Nuggets were again without their maestro. Friday, point guard Ty Lawson seemed confident he could play through a right heel bruise Saturday. But after a pregame workout, Lawson was ruled out for the Kings game.

"We have a different personality without Wilson Chandler (shoulder separation) and Ty that we haven't found a flow with, especially offensively," said Karl, who was mad at his team shooting too many jump shots. "I felt tonight we were fairly atrocious in the second and third quarter.

Miller started in Lawson's place (11 points, five assists), and this time, George Karl called on Julyan Stone, not Evan Fournier, to play backup point. It's been a long road for Stone, who had hip surgery in the summer and played just 11 minutes all season, the last time Jan. 5. But the lanky 6-foot-6 floor general played 14 minutes Saturday, penetrating confidently, finishing with five points and a plus-10 rating.

In the previous game at Sacramento, Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins get all DeMarcus Cousins-y with Gallinari, prompting Gallo to say "he said a lot of bad stuff" and that "I'm a lover not a fighter."

Well, Cousins played inspired basketball against Denver this go-round, finishing with 24 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. His best play came in the third quarter, when Cousins found a lane and unleashed a clattering dunk while pummeling poor Randolph to the floor.

Meanwhile, Karl got furious. The Nuggets send an in-house reporter to the huddle during timeouts, then that reporter tweets out a rah-rah, generic George Karl quote to the team. But after the Kings scored 12 points in the first 3:30 of the third, the tweet quoted Karl: "You've got to shut their (expletive) down! Don't stop playing defense."

Then, later in the quarter, when the game got airtight, here was the tweet from @denvernuggets: "Due to FCC regulations, the comments by Nuggets coach George Karl during last timeout cannot be tweeted on these airways."

And with Denver down one point heading into the fourth, the home team outscored the visitors 31-24 in the final quarter, en route to the big No. 15.

"I'm part of Nuggets history and that's great, we did something special for this franchise," Gallo said. "But what counts is not now, but in the playoffs."

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